R.I.P., Jim Baen

Science fiction publisher Jim Baen has died. I didn’t know him personally, but I’ve always been impressed by the way he handled the e-book portion of Baen’s business. He was the only print publisher who treated electronic distribution like another valid revenue stream and not some kind of rattlesnake in a crib. The field is diminished without him.

2 Replies to “R.I.P., Jim Baen”

I have all 5 CD-ROMs of “free to copy” MP3 audiobooks and HTML ebooks he put out as promo material, on the back cover of his hardbounds some many years ago. This pre-dates Creative Commons and by about 5 – 6 years, I believe?

If it hadn’t been for the shuttle launch, this week would really suck. 🙁

Actually, I no longer have the hardbound books nor the CD-ROMs. I bought them cheap on eBay over a number of years, then donated them to the public library some time ago. I do have copies of the CD-ROMs’ content.